


Forgiveness

by jetplane



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death, Episode: s07e02 Proof, Gen, Non-Graphic Violence, Shooting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:34:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26135053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jetplane/pseuds/jetplane
Summary: Reid is still upset with JJ for lying about Emily's death when Hotch sends the two of them to interview potential witnesses. It goes horribly wrong when Spencer is too angry to focus on the job.(an AU/canon divergence for 07x02 "Proof")
Relationships: Jennifer "JJ" Jareau & Spencer Reid
Comments: 5
Kudos: 24





	Forgiveness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nursebonbon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nursebonbon/gifts).



> forgiveness  
> can you imagine?  
> forgiveness  
> can you imagine?  
> \- “It’s Quiet Uptown”

The Monday after the Doyle case, JJ comes into work early. They have a new case, which isn’t unusual, but that’s not why JJ is rushing. After a weekend of radio silence from Reid, she needs to make sure that her best friend is alright.

She encounters Emily in the hallway on her way to the bullpen. “Hey,” Emily greets her. “Have you had a chance to look at the latest case?”

JJ shakes her head. “Garcia’s presenting for the first time today. I’m passing the torch.”

“So, you finished the course?” Emily asks. She’s referring to the profiler training JJ had been just starting before Prentiss had “died”.

“And completed my case rotation,” JJ adds.

Prentiss gives her a smile. “Hotch says he’s never seen a rookie profiler analyze and write up cases as well as you.”

JJ looks skeptical. “He said that?” she asks.

“Yeah,” Prentiss replies. “Well, after all the cases you’ve presented over the years, I’m not surprised.”

The elevator dings as its shiny metal doors slide open and Reid steps out. JJ heads toward him. “Hey,” she greets Spencer. “Where have you been? I wanted to do brunch this weekend.”

Reid barely even looks at her before pretending to read at the case file in his hands. “I had to deal with some stuff with my mom. Have you seen Garcia?”

“Uh...she’s with Rossi.” JJ’s shoulders slump as she watches Reid walk right past her into the bullpen. “He hates me,” she says to Emily.

Prentiss makes a noncommittal noise. “He was just busy,” she offers halfheartedly. The brunette shrugs. “Let it go.”

-

In the round table room, Hotch takes a seat. “Alright, let’s get started.”

JJ hands Garcia the remote to the TV. “Alright, mes amis,” Garcia says with a smile. “You are jetting to Durant, Oklahoma because, in the last three days, two women have been found dead after being sexually tortured and then blinded with a sulfuric acid solution.” She presses a button, and the image of a blonde teenager appears onscreen. “Abby Elcott is our first victim, nineteen-year-old art student. She was headed to campus for an advanced drawing class. She’d been missing for two days.” A photo of a different blonde is added to the monitor. “Same goes for our second victim, Beth Westerly, seventeen. She had just finished her coffee shop shift and was on her way to a Bar Method class.”

“Both low-risk victims,” Emily notes.

“And physically similar,” Morgan adds.

Rossi looks up at Garcia. “How close are the two abduction sites?”

She touches the screen of her tablet, pulling up a city map for everyone to see. “Five miles apart, at bus stops,” she reports. “Abby’s cell was found near one, Beth’s scarf near the other.”

Reid scrutinizes the map. “Where were the dump sites?”

“One in an alley, the other in a field,” Penelope replies. 

They look at the map. “Reid, do you have enough to put together a geographical profile?” Hotch asks.

“Probably.” Spencer is already reaching for a pen.

“Good,” Hotch says, gathering up the files in front of him and standing up from his chair. “Garcia, come up with a list of jobs that would give the unsub access to sulfuric acid. Everyone else, wheels up in thirty minutes.”

-

On the jet, Spencer deliberately chooses a seat as far away from JJ as possible. The team continues to work on the case with Garcia on the monitor in front of them. Reid keeps his eyes on his folder.

“Beth was caught on a bank surveillance camera three hours before she disappeared,” Morgan says as they examine the evidence. He gestures at the photo Prentiss is holding. “That’s a recent photo of Abby.”

Emily looks down at the image. “So she wasn’t found in the same clothes she was abducted in.”

“He took her necklace, too,” Reid offers nonchalantly. “The photo of Beth at the ATM shows her wearing a gold necklace, but there’s no sign of it in the picture of her body.”

“Abby’s parents said that she would have been wearing a watch,” Hotch says. “It was a graduation gift. She never took it off.”

Rossi frowns thoughtfully. "Garcia, how many gold-buyers are in the comfort zone?"

Penelope holds up a finger and types for a moment, then looks back at the webcam. “One,” she reports. “There’s also pawnshop on the same street, and another a few blocks away. I’ll send you the locations right now.”

Hotch glances out the jet window. They’ll be landing soon. “Prentiss and I will talk to the parents and then look at the abduction sites. Morgan and Dave, go to the disposal sites. JJ and Reid will check out the shops.”

JJ tentatively smiles at the assignment. Spencer purses his lips and looks away.

-

The tension doesn’t ease after the plane lands. Despite being the last one to board, Reid manages to be the first off the jet. He heads immediately for the parking lot, leaving JJ to follow behind at a jog, and doesn’t stop until he gets to the SUV. Keys in hand, he climbs into the front seat without asking JJ if she’d like to drive and wordlessly starts the engine the instant her seatbelt is fastened. They’re almost to the first store when JJ finally decides to say something. Reid’s heartbroken _you think this is about my profiling skills?_ is still ringing in her ears, and she knows she needs to make things right.

“Spence, I’m sorry for what I said earlier,” she apologizes, wincing slightly as she remembers the exchange. “I didn’t mean to suggest that you didn’t care. This whole thing has been really hard for me and I just wish we could talk about it. So please, can you just tell me how you're feeling?”

“I told you JJ, I’m fine. There’s nothing to talk about,” he replies brusquely, not taking his eyes off of the road. “Let’s just solve this case so we can go home.”

JJ sighs to herself. “Okay,” she says. “But you know I’m always here for you. If you ever change your mind.”

“Thanks,” Reid says without looking at her. They drive the rest of the way in silence.

-

When they arrive at the first pawnshop, JJ consults her phone. “This one is the one just outside of the unsub’s comfort zone,” she says when Reid pulls the parking brake. “But we should still treat it as a possibility.”

“Yeah, I get it,” Spencer replies shortly. It’s clear that the only thing he wants to do is finish the case and get as far away from JJ as possible. “I know how to do my job.”

“Not what I meant,” JJ mutters with a sigh as Reid slams the door behind him. She climbs out of the car and follows him down the sidewalk.

The inside of the pawnshop is dark, with only a few lights on. Spencer heads straight for the man at the counter, determined to get their task over with. He doesn’t notice that the cashier’s expression is frozen in an expression of terror, hands shaking as he pulls bills from the register, or that the taller man standing behind the cashier is pressing a gun into his lower back. But JJ does, discreetly unholstering her gun and reaching out to hold him back. “Spence!” she hisses.

“Hello,” Reid says, ignorant to JJ’s attempts to warn him of the weapon. “I’m Dr. Spencer Reid with the FBI, and-”

The gunman’s reaction to the word “FBI” is immediate. His whole expression changes as he kicks the cashier in the knee, sending the smaller man toppling into the floor as he raises his firearm. It’s only then that Reid realizes the situation and reaches for his own weapon. He’s too late, the gunman is already poised to shoot.

_His finger lands on the trigger._

_He presses it._

_A bullet is fired from the chamber._

_It’s going to hit him. It’s faster than the speed of sound and aimed perfectly at his heart; it’s going to hit him and then it..._ stops.

Or more accurately, JJ stops it. She sees the gun and doesn’t think, diving in front of Spencer as she fires two shots of her own. Both land between the unsub’s eyes before she even hits the ground.

“JJ!” Reid shouts in alarm as he sees his partner fall. He wants desperately to check on her first, but years of field experience kick in. Gun still in hand, he hurries toward the gunman and kneels to check for a pulse. There is none, and Spencer can feel the blood pumping in his ears as he puts his firearm away. “JJ, are you okay?”

No response. Reid turns back to check on her and his heart skips a beat as he sees her lying on the floor. There’s a dark pool underneath her. It’s blood.

“Call 911,” Spencer shouts at the cashier cowering behind the counter. “Now!” The man blinks out of his trance and rushes to grab the landline as Reid races to JJ’s side. “Tell them that a federal agent is down and we need medics to this location right now!”

Spencer is already wriggling out of his sweater as he kneels by JJ’s side. “Hey,” he utters gently, bunching up the fabric in his hands. “You’re going to be okay.” He pulls up her shirt to reveal the bullet wound in her abdomen, and JJ can read the worry in his eyes. She sucks in a sharp breath as Reid presses his sweater against the wound.

“I’m sorry,” Reid blurts out, nearly pulling his hands away from her on instinct.

“It’s okay,” she replies through gritted teeth. “How - how bad is it?”

“It’s not too bad,” he lies red-handed. “You’re going to be fine.”

The worker watches the scene with wide eyes. “The ambulance is ten minutes away,” he reports

“Tell them that there’s a federal agent who’s been shot,” Reid snaps. He knows that the information has already been relayed and that it wouldn’t make a difference anyway; no amount of words will break the laws of physics of traffic. But JJ is losing blood fast and there’s nothing else he can do. “They need to get here sooner.”

JJ reaches for Reid’s wrist. “Spence,” she croaks. She offers him a weak smile. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not,” Spencer insists, frantically shaking his head. “The average response time for an ambulance in the U.S. is eight minutes. Why are they taking ten minutes? That’s too long.” He looks around desperately. “I should call Hotch. Hotch’ll be able to get here faster, right?” He glances again at the cashier. “Go into my pocket and get my cell phone. You need to call my emergency contact, Aaron Hotchner.”

“Spencer, stop,” JJ whispers. “There’s nothing Hotch can do.”

He ignores her and continues barking instructions at the employee. “Tell him that JJ has been shot.” Reid turns his attention back to JJ and sees her eyelids flutter. He can tell she’s going into shock.

“No, no, no, no, no.” Reid is almost hyperventilating. “JJ, look at me!”

JJ groans softly. After about a minute of trying, she manages to force her eyes open.

Tears threaten to spill. “You’re okay,” he breathes. “The ambulance is almost here; you just have to hold on a few more minutes. You can hold on for a few more minutes, right?” Both of them know that she can’t.

Her smile is gentle as she pries Reid’s hand off her abdomen and wraps their fingers together. “Tell the boys I love them,” she whispers. “And Spence...I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“About Emily,” JJ croaks. “I’m sorry.”

Reid shakes his head. “I’m sorry I yelled at you, I was-” He stops abruptly as he realizes that JJ’s chest has gone still. He presses his fingers to her neck and feels one last stuttering beat before it stops. “No,” he gasps. “No, please. I forgive you for Emily, I forgive you for everything.” Tears start to dilute the blood on the floor. “I forgive you for everything, please, you have to know that I’m-”

“Reid?”

He turns around. Hotch and Prentiss are standing in the doorway. They see JJ’s lifeless body in Reid’s arms and know without asking. “JJ,” Emily whispers in shock. She locks eyes with Reid and takes in his helpless expression. “Oh, God, Spence-”

“I never got to tell her.”

**Author's Note:**

> a/n: If you don't remember the scene in which Reid confronts JJ about Emily's faked death, here it is (first clip): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joQUC8Cno_4 It's one of my favorite conversations in the entire series.
> 
> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this story.


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